Friday

Southern jam band titans Widespread Panic return to Memphis for a two-night summer stand. The group will play a pair of concerts Friday and Saturday at the Mud Island Amphitheater. Tickets for the shows at the Mississippi River venue are nearly sold out. To purchase, or for more information, go to Ticketmaster.com.

Showtime is 7:30 p.m. both nights.

Mississippi singer-songwriter Paul Thorn and The Blind Boys of Alabama are taking their studio collaboration on the road. Earlier this year, Thorn released an old-school gospel album “Don’t Let the Devil Ride” featuring team-ups with Bonnie Bishop, the McCrary Sisters and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, as well as legendary spiritual group The Blind Boys of Alabama. As part of a summer tour of Levitt Shell venues across the country, Thorn and the Blind Boys will stop at the Overton Park location for a free concert on Friday night. Showtime is 7:30 p.m.

Train, featuring singer Pat Monahan, headlines the Live at the Garden concert series on Friday.(Photo11: Getty Images)

Earlier this month country act Rascal Flatts kicked off the 18th edition of Live at the Garden. The Memphis Botanic Garden's annual concert series — sponsored by Duncan-Williams Inc. — will continue this Friday night with a performance by pop-rock hitmakers Train. The series will resume next month with a pairing of '80s pop favorites Boy George & Culture Club and the B-52s. Veteran soul singer Gladys Knight will headline the Garden on July 28, and the series will wrap up with a show from duo Big & Rich on Sept. 7. Lawn tickets are $45 for each show. The Garden also has pit tickets for $86 each.

Saturday

Jazz-pop singer and pianist Diana Krall makes her way to Memphis this week. The multiple Grammy Award-winner released her 13th studio album, “Turn Up the Quiet,” last year, and her tour in support of the disc brings her to downtown’s Orpheum on Saturday night. Tickets are $59 to $115 and are available now at all Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com or (800) 745-3000.

Showtime is 8 p.m.

Tuesday

Expect a larger cheer than usual during the famous explosive White House scene when "Independence Day" brings some pre-Fourth of July fireworks to the Orpheum, to launch the latest edition of the historic theater's "Summer Movie Series." The all-star cast of the 1996 sci-fi hit includes Will Smith as a pilot, Bill Pullman as the president, Brent Spiner as a mad scientist and various special-effects creations as the alien creatures hoping to conquer this island Earth. Doors open at 6 for "lobby fun" that includes a photo booth with outer-space props.

Wednesday

Among the new characters introduced in "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" are the birds known as "porgs," one of which is shown here hitching a ride with Chewbacca on the Millennium Falcon.(Photo11: Deseret News)

Perhaps the best movie in the Lucasfilm series since "The Empire Strikes Back," writer-director Rian Johnson's2017 "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" brings plenty of outer-space pyrotechnics to the really big screen at the Memphis Pink Palace Museum, just in time for fans and families looking to beat the heat on what likely will be a very warm Independence Day. The movie also plays at 4 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday in July at the museum.